Town of Hanna council to donate surplus chairs to Legion
Hanna town council passed a resolution to donate surplus community centre chairs to the local Royal Canadian Legion as a neighbourly gesture. The resolution was passed at the April 9 regular meeting of council.
Councillors read a report presented by Town Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Kim Neill who noted a few hundred chairs in use at the community centre had outlived their usefulness, at least to the Town of Hanna.
“As part of the 2024 approved Town of Hanna capital budget there was $12,000 allocated for the purchase of new vinyl chairs to replace the fabric chairs which were stained and only used for events requiring more than 300 chairs,” stated the CAO’s report to council.
“Fabric chairs are not well-suited for banquet events as they can get dirty and stained and it is a labour-intensive challenge to keep them clean and presentable.
“One hundred twenty new vinyl chairs have been purchased and delivered and the fabric chairs are now surplus.
“Administration reached out to Hanna Legion representatives to see if they had any interest in the chairs and they have responded with an offer to purchase the chairs for a price of $10/chair.”
During discussion Neill confirmed the new chairs have arrived and it’s time to make a decision about the old ones.
The CAO noted when the Town of Hanna contacted Royal Canadian Legion #25 Hanna, the non-profit organization voiced interest in the fabric chairs and countered with a cash offer per chair.
Councillors were presented with a letter from Legion executives John Akkermans and Don Brinton. “These (chairs) would be a fine addition to our Legion as we have many odd chairs in disrepair,” stated the letter, date stamped March 21.
The CAO stated councillors had several options open to them with this item. Of course, they could accept the Legion’s offer of $10 per chair for the entire 210 chair lot.
The second option was simply to donate the chairs to the Legion, a well-known organization which is involved with a number of well-attended annual events such as the Remembrance Day ceremony.
Neill noted the councillors could instead choose to offer the chairs for sale in a closed bid process.
“Administration does not know what these chairs would be worth on the open market,” stated Neill’s report.
Lastly, the CAO noted councillors could elect to keep all the old fabric chairs in storage in case they are ever needed again.
As councillors discussed the options open to them, Coun. Sandra Beaudoin moved that the Town of Hanna donate all of the surplus fabric chairs to the local Legion free of charge. She stated the Legion is a non-profit society which provides services to the community and donating the chairs would be a neighbourly gesture.
Other councillors agreed donating the chairs to the Legion was the best idea, although it was mentioned the Legion was willing to pay cash for them.
The motion to donate all of the surplus fabric chairs to Royal Canadian Legion #25 Hanna was carried.
Stu Salkeld, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, East Central Alberta Review
